The Surrender Experiment

Would you be willing to try an experiment? An experiment that will have you accept everything that comes your way? Everything that life presents in front of you. Would you say yes? Michael A. Singer, the author of The Surrender Experiment, did just that. 

Image by Jill Wellington from Pixabay

I just finished reading his book and it was very interesting. I did have some reservations though about the ways he went about certain things, but the overall concept is what I liked. After having a deep spiritual awakening, Singer decided to let life happen no matter what his mind thought. He wanted to see what would happen if he surrendered and accepted everything that life put in front of him.

By accepting each one (even if his mind told him no, and even if he preferred not to), he opened the door for life to bring opportunities and choices he never thought he'd have. According to him, by accepting and opening his heart to whatever presented itself in his path, he was embracing life and its flow. He did not accept it grudgingly though, he whole heartedly embraced it. Of course he was a "successful man" but also there were times when life seemed to be a disaster. No matter, he continued on and allowed the flow of life (as he called it) to go on. 

The mind telling him no was his own fear. His own fear of rejection, fear of failing, or fear of not knowing. We all have these fears or thoughts about certain situations, and we have to decide whether to pay attention to the mind or to surrender and accept what life has placed in front of us. In essence, we have to get over our fears. That is something tough. It doesn't necessarily have to be fear though. It could be pride, anger, or simply thinking about your preferences. 

Can you imagine how much we could do if we didn't let our fears, our pride, or even our desires and preferences get in the way? How much freer and joyful we could be? (This is not to say don't follow your passion. I do think that our passion is part of our life.)

At some point there's no more struggle, just the deep peace that comes from surrendering to a perfection that is beyond your comprehension. Eventually, even the mind stops resisting, and the heart loses the tendency to close. The joy, excitement, and freedom are simply too beautiful to give up. Once you're ready to let go of yourself, life becomes your friend, your teacher, your secret lover. When life's way becomes your way, all the noise stops, and there is a great peace.

Michael A Singer

Have you ever accepted something that presented itself even with fear, or pride in your mind? How about let something pass because of fear, pride, or preferences?